Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Unorthodox new-age shots have Sachin-Lara’s blessing
Tendulkar gives Eng the edge, Lara bets on Pak to win T20 World Cup as legends weigh in on today’s clash
NEW DELHI: As contemporaries in the cricket world, Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara were the subjects of constant comparisons. Brought together for the 20th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Saturday though, it was more about all that was similar between the two elder statesmen in the game.
When it came to predicting the winners for Sunday’s T20 World Cup though, Lara picked Pakistan while Tendulkar felt England bowling could steal a march over their 1992 ODI World Cup victors at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“I think Pakistan has the better team in terms of individual players. England are playing very good structured cricket, but I would like to see the trophy stay in Asia,” Lara said when the two batting greats were asked to give their prediction in the interaction with HT’s managing editor Kunal Pradhan.
Tendulkar saw it differently. “Looking at the ground dimensions, it is going to be England. Yes, the momentum is with Pakistan, they are peaking at the right time and the 1992 similarities are there, but maybe England might get them to play square of the wicket, where the boundaries are longer. The straighter boundaries are short (as opposed to Adelaide where England exploited the shorter square boundaries against India in the semi-finals). I have a feeling, upfront with the new ball they will look to swing and later on bowl shorter, forcing them (Pakistan batters) to play square of the wicket.”
Tendulkar, the master of hitting through the line in the powerplay overs during the golden era of one-day cricket, and Lara, whose range of shots played off a high back-lift kept fans riveted, also gave their verdicts on the 360-degree T20 batters.
He didn’t play the scoop or the switchhit, and Tendulkar pointed out to the variety in the approach of batters even today. “You look at someone like Virat, Rohit, or for that matter even Gayle, they never played these shots. Still, they managed to do well. The person sitting next to me, he never played these shots but his strike rate was phenomenal.”
For the Indian legend, it was practice that made it perfect viewing. “The game is evolving... It is about practising. And once you play certain shots, your hand movement becomes very important, even if the footwork is not there,” Tendulkar said, perhaps Suryakumar Yadav in his mind. “Players are practising these shots, not experimenting out there. The game is going to continue changing.”
Lara is thrilled with the batting adventure. “It is amazing. These are very, very good players. Concentration-wise, because of the shots they play, they struggle a bit in Tests, but I have great appreciation for them.”
How Viv chucked Lara’s kit bag
The two great contemporaries and close friends entertained the packed auditorium with stories of their growing up years in international cricket. While Lara retold the story of his kit being thrown out of the Queens Park Oval dressing gua to persuade him not to retire. “I was going through the difficult phase in 2007 when I was contemplating retirement. He spoke to me for 40-45 minutes convincing me that I had plenty of cricket left in me. Those kinds of things stay with you forever. When your batting hero tells you, it has a huge impact.”